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24 July 2008

Dynamo Donuts, San Francisco. Just Opened!

Doughnuts and me go way back. I have always known them, loved them, and accepted their round fried selves for who they are, not who I want them to be. I have rarely met a doughnut whose merits I could not find, even if they were the wallflower kind, or still wore high-waters in college.

Every doughnut counts is what I say. And every doughnut is a snowflake: unique.

Not every doughnut is created equal. This we can all agree upon. But why should they be monotone? Stagnant? Bla? Jaded?

A doughnut is round. It's movement, dynamic, a three dimensional sculpture, to be appreciated from all sides. There's hole in the middle, or a whole, depending on how you look at it.

Doughnuts are exterior, interior and the balance that makes them unique lies in their creator's vision. How hot should the oil be? What kind of oil? How much baking powder? Will the dough rest or sleep or be seared fresh from the mixing bowl? A million ideas, possibilities! Flavors, sizes, combinations! Colored sprinkles or double glazed? Too sweet or just right? A tad salty? Crispy? Tender? Melt in ones mouth or give a fight?

So when I read, when I heard, when I knew, a doughnut shop like no other, was on the way, coming to a counter near me, I waited and slowed my breath, like a hunter, in the San Francisco quiet. Ears alert, mouth watering, I pounced when the news came in!

DYNAMO DONUTS

is here, my friend. Go. Now. Get your morning fix. Afternoon snack. Late afternoon treasure. Or do what I did-- get some to go and mete bites out as the hours pass by, or expose one to a friend the next day. What delight! What deliciousness!

PS: Dynamo Doughnuts are produced and conceived by Sara Spearin, pastry chef extraordinaire. I met Sara @ 2001 when she worked at Stars and I was at Citizen Cake. I absolutely thrilled for her! Yeah pastry chef owners!

I went by this morning and can report that the doughnuts are fantastic. The vanilla bean and the maple bacon kinds were on offer today, and both are delicious. They are not overly sweet, and the doughnut itself is tender, yet toothsome. They ain't cheap, but they're worth it.

Thanks for more info on Dynamo. I hope this puts San Francisco on the map, as the commenter mentioned with the Donut Plant. San Francisco has some decent old school donuts but nothing quite like this unless you consider People's Donuts (which I don't since they're vegan). I can't wait to try it.

My first summer camp experience was filled with homesickness and hatred of team sports, but it's where I discovered doughnuts! Well worth the trauma, since the little town I lived in had no retail bakery and I had never tasted a bona fide glazed beauty. I have always been grateful.

I'm a fan of the D. Plant in NYC -one of the reasons it got on the map is because it actually sells its doughnuts elsewhere in NYC rather than expect people to traipse down to the plant (which is actually sorta dingy and with no room to sit around). There are 2 or 3 places in Grand Central alone which sell them - I usually find mine at Oren's Daily Roast when I'm in NYC. So, although I hope DD is a success, let's hope some other coffee places (Peet's - do you hear me?) help spread the love and carry them too.

Hello John,Thank you for your loving, "marketing," prod to Sara Spearin and her new venture, Dynamo Doughnuts.

I remember when Mark Israel started making his gourmet doughnuts. When the "plant" was in his rental apartment's tenement basement. I remember mark vividly on his heavy old school "nyc pizza delivery" bicycle, making deliveries. When I had money saved I bought his largesse creations from a coffee shop/bar on Avenue A, not far from either of our apartments on the LES.

It took a long time for the Plant to get found and built, and for him to get any fraction of the press that can be generated from today's internet buzz culture.

While I agree with you that Ms. Spearin's doughnut's will get a larger audience if she can deliver to a number of locations close to where all gourmet doughnut lovers' live, I think it wondrous to have to meet her doughnuts where they live solely now. It's like a doughnut adventure, a doughnut journey, a doughnut pilgrimage!

If you want Dynamo Doughnuts in your local neighborhood, just tell your Peet's or Starbucks or Independent coffee shop. Believe me when I say all Ms. Spearin is doing now is trying to play catch up. With sleep and doughnuts! ~ Shuna

Shuna-
Thanks very much for your thoughtful response. And I will try and put a bug in Peet's ear so to speak. Or from whomever I get my coffee from. I do wish them the best of luck though, I made the pilgramage recently and will again if I get the chance.